Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division deploy to Fola, W.Va. for experimentation and technology testing
FOLA, W.V. (APRIL 24, 2023) – Hundreds of the U.S. Army’s top-trained Soldiers field-tested military technology in rural West Virginia during the second iteration of the Driving Innovation in Realistic Training (DIRT) Days event April 17-21, in Fola, West Virginia, presented by the Civil-Military Innovation Institute (CMI2), in partnership with the United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) and the 101st Airborne Division.
Military personnel participated in and field-tested emerging tactics and technology while bolstering their operation skill sets through challenging, realistic exercises in the rugged terrain of Clay County, West Virginia. DIRT Days 23-001 emulated future operational environments to create an experience in an age of intensifying technology and threats for soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (2-506th, White Currahee) from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, and select individuals from the 82nd Airborne Division (Gainey Company) in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, and the West Virginia Army National Guard.
“DIRT Days was a fabulous opportunity to work with newly developed technology and identify technology we want to be developed,” LT COL Dale Marrou, 101st Airborne Battalion Commander, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment. “This training exercise gives the 101st an opportunity to experiment with electronic warfare systems that they had not used before.”
The CMI2 Adaptive Experimentation Facility in Fola, West Virginia, is a reclaimed coal mine property offering a challenging and combat-realistic facility for military users seeking a multi-domain environment for research and development for military technology.
“The terrain is very complex, and also, we don’t have a lot of this at (Fort) Campbell,” said SPC Eric Mahn, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment. “It’s been a great training, anticipating what terrain may come in a hostile environment. You never know what you’re going to go up against, so you train like you fight.”
A critical component of the DIRT Days initiative is the testing and experimentation of Soldier driving innovations. Specifically, prototypes tested in Fola during DIRT Days included two products developed through the DEVCOM and CMI2 Pathfinder program – the Arctic Modular Sled (AMS) and an Assistant Gunner (AG) Bag.
The AMS, a CMI2-led innovation project, is a highly adaptable, lightweight, and modular arctic maneuverability solution developed in collaboration with military partners from the Montana National Guard, Alaska 11th ABN DIV, and researchers from the University of Montana. During the most recent DIRT Days event, Airborne Soldiers transporting heavy loads in mountainous terrain tested the AMS for durability in non-Arctic conditions.
The AG Bag, a concept inspired by a Soldier from the 101st Airborne Division, was created to improve the efficiency of the ammunition bag system for machine gun crews. According to LT COL Marrou, the new ammo bag “can almost cut in half the time it takes to get a gun on a tripod and ready to fire. And it all came from one captain with an idea.”
Additional Catalyst-Pathfinder developed technology available for experimentation during DIRT Days 23-001 included:
- Advanced Dynamic Spectrum Reconnaissance Sensor Network (ADSR-SN)
- Spectrum Exchange
- Unmanned Automated Resupply
To support the military development exercise, the Pathfinder Adaptive Experimentation Force (AEF) offered hybrid warfare training experimentation to field-test technologies and introduced Soldiers to challenging scenarios by connecting the ideation phase of the research and development process with the successful delivery of a working product.
The technology available via the AEF for the most recent DIRT Days event included the following:
- Saab Force-on-Force Training Systems-Next (FOFTS-Next) – Saab developed the FoFTSNext to allow Soldiers to wear sensors to simulate real enemy action. The laser-based system simulates a live training environment where Soldiers can engage a live-thinking enemy.
- Trailer-Mounted Tactical Redeployable Expanding Container Capability (TRECC-T) – The TRECC-T provides a highly mobile enhanced workspace for specialist capabilities, requiring minimal logistics to deploy and operate. The shelter is a DEVCOM asset currently on loan to Weatherhaven.
Earlier this year, CMI2 announced two additional DIRT Days events for 2023. CMI2 has the next DIRT Days event scheduled for later in the Summer.
To learn more about DIRT Days, visit the following links for media coverage of the April event:
About the cover image: Soldiers assigned to A “Easy” Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) en route to retrieve resupplies as part of the Driving Innovation in Realistic Training (DIRT) Days exercise, April 18, 2023, at Fola, W. Va. DIRT Days focuses on unit training objectives and implementing technology from U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, the Pathfinder and Accelerating Force programs. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Raymond Valdez, 40th Public Affairs Detachment)
